Let's be brutally honest....

I used to be much better at dealing with the ebbs and flows of my jewelry business. 3 years ago, I could see a shift.  The social media game that I had played so well in the past, started to change. It became harder to be noticed, and harder to get my posts seen by my followers and over time, my sales diminished.

This in turn affected me in financial ways. I stopped buying supplies for my business except what I really needed like bubble mailers, boxes, and the regular findings purchases. And I found it harder to maintain my other financial burdens.

This in turn has affected my ability to create things with the artisan beads and components that I have always loved. Many of my favorite artisan component artists have stopped making their work.

This in turn has caused me to get a second job. Albeit a part time job, it has helped my other financial responsibilities but I am still not able to put money back into my business like I've done in the past.

Jewelry is not selling, and I am burning out trying to figure out how to revitalize it. So, the question is, what next?

Shift directions entirely? Trying teaching more? Not that there has been any opportunities knocking my doors down....  Learn a new jewelry craft? Mastering a new craft takes time and $$ and both of these are lacking currently. I hate to be that person that has obstacles that hold me back.... It's like- well I can't get a job because I don't have a car. But I can't buy a car because I don't have a job.

I used to be so much better at all this.  I could fall back on magazine submissions, selling jewelry locally, webinars..... tin snippets......

So much has changed. Magazines are stopping production. Big major art magazines are just not succeeding anymore and that's a really scary thing. It was the magazines that got me into this business in the first place. Is this some kind of sign?

I have never been in this place before. This scary place of actually thinking- all good things come to an end. I don't want it to end. Jewelry is still my passion. I still love making it, I still love challenging myself and I love making people happy with the things that I'm making.

So what now?